Anahita froze in place.
For several seconds, she stared at the towering two-headed orc without moving. Her eyes sparkled, her mouth hung slightly open, and a thin trail of drool slipped from the corner of her lips. The light radiating from her body grew brighter by the second, as if her excitement could no longer be contained.
In a long, hungry drawl, she said.
"Ooooooh… so this is where the real treasure was…"
She clasped her hands together and floated a little closer, never taking her eyes off the orc, giggling playfully.
"Tonight, I can finally eat as much meat and drink as much wine as I want. Tonight… tonight I'll have a truly royal feast."
The two-headed orc lumbered toward the wolves' carcasses, as if intending to start eating right there. The other orcs, sensing the weight of its gaze, stepped aside without protest and cleared a path.
Suddenly—
A body fell from the sky like lightning.
With a strike so fast the eye couldn't follow it, the heads of two orcs standing to the left of the two-headed orc were severed in an instant.
The two-headed orc sensed the presence of an unknown being. Both heads snapped to the left at the same time.
Blood erupted from the necks of its fallen subordinates, and their severed heads rolled across the ground with dull thuds. Moments later, their bodies collapsed lifelessly onto the soil.
As the corpses fell, a red-haired man emerged from behind them—bloodied sword in hand, staring at the two-headed orc with cold, emotionless eyes.
His lips moved slightly, and in a frozen voice, he said.
"I finally found you…"
The two-headed orc stared at Lioran in confusion. Everything had happened so fast that he hadn't even had the chance to understand how to react.
One of his heads turned toward the bodies of his fallen men. Seeing the lifeless corpses, it was as if he had only just come back to his senses. A loud growl tore from his throat and he shouted.
"Bastard! How dare you kill my men?!"
Then, filled with rage, he gave the order.
"Kill him!"
The four remaining orcs, hearing the command of the two-headed orc, charged at Lioran with savage cries, raising their massive swords as they rushed forward.
One of the two heads snarled with hatred:
"You're finished, filthy human! I'll tear those cold eyes out of their sockets and eat them myself!"
Lioran paid no attention to the threats. With a calm, icy expression, he watched the four orcs closing in on him, shouting as they ran.
Then he stretched out his hand toward them and said in a bored voice.
"Stop making so much noise…"
Suddenly, a massive flame burst from his palm and shot toward the orcs who had come within five meters of him.
The orcs didn't even have time to dodge. The moment the fire struck them, they let out piercing screams. Their bodies burned in the flames, and after a few moments, the screams faded into weak groans.
In the end, one by one, they collapsed to the ground and lay still.
Suddenly, a heavy punch landed on Lioran's head, and Anahita's furious voice rang out as she shouted.
"You crazy idiot! How many times do I have to tell you to just cut off their heads? What if their Mana Cores are burned?!"
Lioran glared at her in anger, and this time he struck back, landing a punch on Anahita's head:
"Useless spirit, I told you not to interfere in my work! And stop hitting my head… or you won't get any food ever again."
For a moment, Anahita stared into Lioran's cold, angry eyes. She understood that if she kept arguing, the threat was real and she would truly be left without food.
So she backed down, but said bitterly.
"Do whatever you want, jerk… you know what? You're a heartless, brainless, stupid demon."
Then, with a sharp motion, she vanished back into Lioran's body.
Lioran fixed his gaze on the two-headed orc and muttered under his breath.
"One day… I'll kill that damned spirit myself…"
The two-headed orc stood staring at the burned corpses of his men. He still couldn't believe it—how a massive blaze had burst from Lioran's hand and wiped them out in a single attack. Fear was clearly visible in all four of his eyes.
One of his heads shouted in rage.
"This… this is impossible!"
The other head, calmer but filled with anger, locked its gaze onto Lioran's cold eyes and growled.
"You were a swordsman, bastard… how are you using magic? That's impossible."
Lioran answered in a cold voice.
"Someone who's about to die doesn't need to understand anything."
The two-headed orc stared at him, stunned, all four eyes fixed on him. Confusion echoed in his voice as he asked.
"You… you understand the language of monsters? Aren't you a human?"
Lioran replied in the same cold tone.
"I told you… someone who's about to die doesn't need to understand anything."
Hearing Lioran's answer, both faces of the two-headed orc twisted. The veins in his neck bulged as he drew all four swords with his four hands. Rage poured from his voice as one head snarled.
"If you won't talk willingly, I'll rip the answer out of your tongue by force!"
He leapt heavily toward Lioran, and the other head shouted.
"For talking, your tongue is enough… so I can cut off your arms and legs!"
With a furious roar, the two-headed orc brought all four swords down toward Lioran at once.
But the very moment the blades neared Lioran's face, all four swords suddenly stopped.
The orc stared at his weapons in disbelief. Only then did he realize.
All four massive blades had struck a single sword… Lioran's sword.
And there they were, frozen in place.
"What…?"
"That's impossible… how do you have this much power?"
Cold sweat ran down both of his faces.
And suddenly, through the tangle of blades, he saw Lioran's cold eyes.
At that exact moment, an involuntary shiver ran through his body.
He jumped back without thinking and took several steps away.
The two-headed orc stared at Lioran with a feeling he had never experienced before. Cold sweat dripped from both foreheads, and his mind repeated in turmoil.
'This… what was that feeling?'
'Why… why did I feel like I had to run?'
Lioran stared at the two-headed orc standing before him with tired yet emotionless eyes. His gaze wasn't threatening, nor was it filled with anger; it was so calm that it felt unsettling.
The orc stood tall, his body strong and uninjured. No wounds marked his green skin, no sign of weakness showed. And yet, something strange twisted in his chest—a pressure he couldn't understand, like something that didn't belong in his mind.
Lioran asked in a cold, emotionless tone.
"What happened? Why did you pull back?"
The wind moved through the trees. Leaves rustled, but no answer came from the orc.
A heavy, suffocating silence fell between them.
Lioran let out a short sigh and stepped forward. The sound of his boot touching the ground was quiet and insignificant, yet that single step made the orc unconsciously shift his weight. He didn't even realize he had moved.
Lioran continued
"If you're not coming to me…"
A second step.
"…then I'll come to you."